VA Turns Away Veteran: “We’re not Accepting any New Patients!”

The VA is causing all of their own problems these days, aren’t they? From corrupt administrators who fudge medical records while making BIG bucks, to shoddy service and crappy facilities (even though they take in plenty of tax dollars) and now the VA is literally turning veterans away!

Iraq war veteran Chris Dorsey suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). He recently had to transfer his medical services from Athens, GA to the Lawrencville, GA branch, but he was turned away – the receptionist told him that they were no longer accepting new patients. Dorsey was, of course, stunned. Undeterred and in need of medical care, Dorsey then tried the next closest VA clinic in Oakwood, GA – this time though he recorded the experience because he knew that no one would believe that he was turned away from a VA clinic.

How did he know? He had already told his family about his experience at the Lawrenceville clinic and they didn’t believe him!"I told my family about this stuff happening and they've said, 'You are crazy, no one would do that.”

Here’s what Dorsey experienced at the next clinic in Oakwood.

When Dorsey told the receptionist that he needed to transfer from the Athens, GA VA system and that he also needed to schedule an appointment, he was again told that the clinic was not accepting new patients.

"We're not accepting any new patients — not this clinic," Dorsey had now been turned away by two separate VA clinics and neither had given him further instructions, like where to find medical attention or treatment.

"It's devastating for me to go in to two places and say I'm here to get help and they are essentially saying 'I'm not going to help you,'" Dorsey said. "If it's happening to me, I can't just be be the only one.”

Just before the video ends you can hear Dorsey remarking that there are 22 suicides in the veterans’ community every day. While he doesn’t say it outright, his insinuation that the way that he was treated at those VA offices may play a role in this deplorably high number. He’s not wrong. How heartbreaking that these men and women who have bled and sacrificed for us are now left to the devices of government run healthcare – where the system forgets that they are people and instead they get treated like a number.

Sadly it seems likely that Dorsey won’t be able to find any help close to where he lives. His next (and best) option is to travel more than 50 miles into Atlanta to get help.

USA Today reports that the VA has started a new program called VA Choice which would enable Dorsey to seek treatment from a civilian therapist, but no one at any of the VA offices told him of this option -- he had to find out from a fellow veteran. However, VA Choice hasn’t exactly been a stunning success either. By its own admission, VA has had problems implementing VA Choice, which began last November. As of May, it had authorized appointments for roughly 50,000 veterans but had received more than a half million inquiries about the program.

On Wednesday, the VA has released a statement responding to the story and chastising the Georgia clinics for the way they handled the situation. VA spokesman James Hutton said of the situation:

"VA staff should have established a full understanding of Mr. Dorsey's medical situation and determined if an appointment was available for him at another location or if he was eligible for the Choice Program and could be seen outside of VA. The message Mr. Dorsey was given, as seen on the video, is completely unacceptable and will not be tolerated.

At VA, we know that we must improve our service to veterans and that is precisely why Secretary [Bob] McDonald began MyVA, a reorganization of the department with the singular goal of placing the veteran at the center of everything we do.”

Ladies and gentlemen, I hope you are paying attention because the same horrible deficiencies that can be found in the VA system will soon be found with our own healthcare under the Obamacare monstrosity. It’s not a matter of if, but a matter of when. The government can’t even run itself now, what happens when it is forced to take on the healthcare needs of 250+ Million more of us? Total anarchy. Obamacare will make the VA’s problems look like utopia.

About the AuthorOnan Coca

Onan is a graduate of Liberty University (2003) and earned his M.Ed. at Western Governors University in 2012. Onan lives in the Atlanta area with his wife, Leah. They have three children and enjoy the hectic pace of life in a young family.

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